The present invention relates generally to semiconductor sensor devices and, more particularly, to a pressure sensor device with a Through Silicon Via (TSV).
Semiconductor sensor devices, such as pressure sensor devices, are well known and used for many applications such as for measuring tire pressure in automobiles. Semiconductor pressure-sensing dies are susceptible to mechanical damage during packaging and environmental damage when in use, and thus they must be carefully packaged. Further, pressure-sensing dies (a.k.a. P-cells), such as piezo resistive transducers (PRTs) and parameterized layout cells, do not permit full encapsulation because that would impede their functionality.
Existing pressure sensor devices use bond wires to connect the pressure-sensing die to a microcontrol unit (MCU). However, using bond wires to connect a P-cell to an MCU has certain disadvantages. For instance, there are reliability issues associated with using bond wires, since the wires are covered with a pressure-sensitive gel instead of a mold compound, which can result in kinking or breaking of the bond wires.
There are also high packaging costs associated with using bond wires such as larger cavity sizes being needed to enable wire bonding. Because there are larger cavity sizes, the package size increases and therefore the amount of pressure-sensitive gel used to fill the cavity increases. Pressure-sensitive gel is expensive, which increases the overall cost of manufacture. Also, using bond wires increases manufacturing time because additional steps are required to perform the wire bonding.